Play store
Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain has called for door-to-door vaccination of all children across rural and urban areas to ensure full immunisation coverage, particularly in remote and hard-to-reach communities.
He made the call while speaking as the chief guest at a workshop on the findings of the Joint Independent Review of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) and Vaccine-Preventable Disease (VPD) Surveillance 2026 at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Emphasising vaccine quality, the minister said authorities must regularly monitor compliance with cold-chain requirements to ensure vaccines remain effective during storage, transportation and administration.
He also stressed the need for regular assessments of vaccine effectiveness and the immunity they provide.
“There is no alternative to vaccination programmes to protect future generations from infectious diseases and pandemics,” he said, noting that Bangladesh’s EPI had been playing a vital role in protecting children from serious diseases since 1979.
He also acknowledged the contributions of international partners, including Gavi, UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO), to the programme.
Dr SM Ziauddin Haider, the prime minister’s special assistant for health affairs, said the government was undertaking healthcare reforms to ensure quality services for everyone, from marginalised communities to urban residents.
As part of the reforms, the government plans to establish dedicated primary healthcare units in every union and every ward in urban areas, he said.
The government has also begun the process of recruiting another 100,000 community health and wellbeing workers to bring healthcare services closer to people, he added.
Evaluating vaccination programmes and disease surveillance would play an important role in improving healthcare quality and ensuring accountability, Haider said.
The workshop was chaired by Directorate General of Health Services Director General Dr Prabhat Chandra Biswas.
WHO Bangladesh Deputy Representative Dr Rajesh Norwell, UNICEF Bangladesh Acting Representative Jillian Mellsop and other relevant officials also attended the event.